


The Dark's Not Scary (if you're here)

by AngeNoir



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Child Soldiers, Comfort, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Wartime, Wartime Romance, underage: one character is 15 and one is 17
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-16 15:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4630407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngeNoir/pseuds/AngeNoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the middle of war, of trying to tear down society and build it anew, how do you cope? How do you handle the suspicion and the fear that your friends might be gone tomorrow?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dark's Not Scary (if you're here)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alley_Skywalker](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alley_Skywalker/gifts).



> I'm not entirely sure if this is what you wanted, so I tried to keep the relationship intimate only with nothing overtly sexual about it.

“Hey Black.”

Regulus had been studying for his upcoming NEWTS, splayed out on his bed with the book hovering over his face as he read. He looked over from his textbook and raised an eyebrow. “Hey, Crouch.”

The weedy fifth year glanced around the dorm room, raising an eyebrow. “Where’s Rosier?”

Regulus shrugged. He might be Rosier’s roommate but that didn’t mean he kept track of the guy. Regulus might not enjoy being around people, but Rosier took that to an extreme.

The bed dipped down as Bart threw himself on top of it and Regulus’s legs. With a grunt, Regulus looked down the bed to see Barty frowning at him.

“What?” he asked defensively.

“Look, you can’t pull shit like last night, okay?” Bart said firmly. “My dad’s already sniffing around Hogwarts, sure that there’s activities happening here, too.”

Regulus huffed out a sigh and turned back to the text determinedly. “No one’s going to suspect kids, Barty. They’d be mad to.”

“Yeah, except this is getting out of hand. My dad’s been pushing for having mass trials of suspects, and the way he was discussing it – it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be very fair trials. You know what the wizarding world is like. They’re spinning closer and closer to bloody panic! Soon my father will go for martial law or something and then—”

“Dumbledore will stop it, you know he will,” Regulus snorted, looking back up to meet Bart’s serious gaze. “He doesn’t like sharing his political power, and he’ll be damned before he gives up something to your father. You know it and I know it.”

“There’s only so much Dumbledore can do to protect students. Hogwarts has been under fire recently because of the frankly stupid pranks and attacks you guys are doing!”

Regulus studied Bart for a bit, sharp eyes catching the clenched fists, the way that Bart was here when Rosier was not, the fact that Bart had closed the door behind him rather than leave the door open. “Hey,” he said softly, reaching down to rub fingers through Bart’s hair. “Hey, we’re being careful, okay? Plus, most of that stupidity is from Lestrange and Wilkes. Ever since Lestrange the elder married my cousin, his brother has been trying to impress her and… him.”

Bart ducked his head, mumbling against Regulus’s legs, “My dad really wants to just – execute all of you. Every one. He’s already trying to think about getting elected and his letters are horrible; I can’t—”

Regulus canceled the spell that was keeping his book aloft and set it on the night-table. Then, he reached out to hook his hands under Bart’s arms and drag the smaller male further up the bed, settling Bart against his chest and rubbing the base of Bart’s neck. “Seriously. Don’t worry about it. Those of us who do those things are overeager, and probably _will_ get caught – but I am neither overeager, nor going to reveal my allegiances rashly the way others of my year might.”

“You’re getting ready to graduate,” Bart whispered. “You’re going to leave and then you’re going to be doing this full-time, and you _don’t know_ – my dad’s pushing to get the Unforgiveables approved for Aurors to use on _any_ suspect. _Any_.”

Regulus bit his lip and tried not to shiver; in his house, he was more than familiar with two of those three wielded against his person. Instead of saying anything more – he and Bart were not comfortable giving or receiving false platitudes – he pressed the side of his face against the top of Bart’s head and breathed in slowly.

“You graduate in three months, Reg. I won’t be able to see you – not unless you show up here, for some reason. My dad’s already starting to monitor everything I do. It’s like living under a scrying mirror. Some days I feel like I should just run away, but dad would do everything in his power to drag me home and I won’t – I won’t jeopardize any of our brothers like that.” Bart shivered a little against Regulus’s side. “He’s getting the Wizengamot to vote on a policy that would put any suspected Death Eater into Azkaban for life; no opportunity for rehabilitation.”

For a long moment, Regulus didn’t say anything, just tried not to think, not to worry. If he stopped to think it would paralyze him from continuing any course of action at all. But – Azkaban? That’s where you put the rapists and the serial killers. At best those that fought for their cause should be political prisoners, put into Recken or Arkenon. When he could box up that information and stuff it away, Regulus said quietly, “If it helps any, I’m terrified too.”

Bart pulled back, skepticism and confusion clear. “How can _you_ be worried? Your family is actually accepting of this! They’d support you, get you out if – if the worst happened. My dad would throw me to the dogs and laugh as they tear me into pieces.”

Regulus let out a highly inappropriate bark of laughter and leaned his head back against his pillow, staring up at the ceiling. He didn’t know how to explain to Bart – who still had a fifteen-year-old’s wide-eyed amazement at their Lord’s daring and bucking of mainstream wizarding society – that Regulus was used to looking under the flash, under the grandiose gestures. He had three dramatic family members (immediate family members, besides) and it was important to learn to read true intentions and desires underneath the drama. Their Lord might have a great philosophy, something that Regulus completely believed to be true and necessary, but now? Now that their Lord was having more and more success, more and more traction?

Well. Regulus was beginning to notice that their Lord wasn’t so much about tearing apart the society that allowed weakness into it and more about gathering power for himself.

And that scared him. Because his brother and his sister and his mother were like that, focused on getting their wants to the exclusion of bettering the family, and it was a recipe for failure. Regulus did not want this to be the same, but there were too many similarities for him to ignore. Hell, the last meeting they had, their Lord had demanded they become marked so that they could “remain his in life and in death.”

If that didn’t sound like someone dead-set on gaining power instead of someone trying to fix a crumbling and immoral society, Regulus didn’t know what did.

“Reg?” Bart asked.

Deciding that he wouldn’t worry Bart with everything else, or even mention that Regulus’s family would leave him to rot and would pretty much deny knowing him in order to save their status in the wizarding world, no matter what they had encouraged him to do, Regulus cleared his throat and said, “My parents want me to go straight to – working with him.”

Bart paused a moment, before linking fingers with Regulus’s hand. “Even though you got in to the program?”

“Not much use for healers in our cause,” Regulus said, swallowing hard.

After a couple of seconds, Bart wiggled further up and shifted so that he straddled Regulus’s chest. “Why don’t you come visit me, then?”

“Visit you?” Regulus repeated, confused.

“When you graduate! I can take some books from the library on healers, the spells they need. We could at least start the basics, right? That way you won’t be that far behind when our cause succeeds. We can practice in the Three Broomsticks on the weekend. You know I know how to sneak off grounds. And you can keep me up to date on everything that’s happening!”

With a small chuckle, Regulus pulled Bart’s mouth down to his, giving him a chaste kiss before pulling away. “Alright, Barty. We’ll do that when I graduate.”

Sighing, Bart laid down next to Regulus and pressed a hand against Regulus’s chest. “I’m glad we can be scared together, I guess.”

Regulus smiled tiredly. Maybe they’d win this before Bart would ever have to participate in anything dangerous. Maybe people would finally wise up to the impracticalities in Dumbledore’s pathetic acceptance and tolerance for Muggle culture. Hell, maybe the power going to their Lord’s head was a phase, and soon their Lord would turn his attention to meaningful changes instead of instilling fear and terror to give himself a power high. He could hope.

Though he’d often found hope only made things worse in the end.


End file.
